مطلب Principles of night photography

As you know, light is very important for photography. What should we do if we intend to take pictures at night? Anyone who is not an artist will enjoy taking photos, especially at night; Whether it is from the scenery or from another person. In this article, we want to introduce you to the principles of night photography and its techniques, we hope it will be of interest to you.

Photography at night can be very challenging and difficult for beginners, but by reading the materials we will teach you and the important points we will raise, you will be able to record professional and memorable photos.
Equipment needed for night photography
Camera

You don't just need a camera and expensive equipment to photograph at night. DSRL cameras have the perfect ability to take pictures in low light. Even with the cheapest and most basic of these cameras, you can have good photography at night.
Sturdy tripod

Before attempting night photography, you need a sturdy tripod. To take photos at night, your camera should always be steady. Adjust the level of your tripod so that your tripod is straight. Turn on your camera's virtual horizon to make sure your stuff is level.
Mini tripod

Sometimes the best spots for night photography are such that you can't use a regular tripod. Therefore, you can take professional photos at night by preparing a mini tripod from these points.

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Necessary settings for photography at night

Some of these settings can include the following, which we will explain each of them below:

     ISO
     Diaphragm
     Shutter speed and...

Use low ISO

Using high ISO in night photography is suitable because of its high sensitivity, but it increases the noise in the images. But the new high-end cameras are advanced enough to allow you to take noise-free photos at very high ISO settings (up to ISO 3200 or more).

However, for night photography, for most cameras with limited light sensitivity, using a lower ISO is the most practical method.

To know the limitations of the ISO level of the camera in the image you intend to photograph, it is better to take some low-light test photos with different ISO settings. Then check out the photos. You'll notice at which ISO level you had the most noise. Now if ISO 1600 is not usable, test lower settings.

Keep in mind that a high ISO power on your camera doesn't necessarily mean you should use it.

If you're using a tripod to steady your camera, it's wise to keep your ISO low. Instead of adjusting ISO, use slower shutter speeds and wider apertures. Basically, ISO 400 or 800 or even 1600 is enough for night photography in most situations.

Manual focus is better than automatic focus

Manual focus works better than autofocus for night photography. The weakness of autofocus for night photography is where your camera is constantly trying to adjust focus because it's dark. Using manual focus makes it possible to avoid accidentally focusing the camera on a certain part of the scene.

Set your manual focus to infinity (∞). Turn on Live View mode and use the zoom button to zoom in on the subject you want to focus on, then adjust until it's in sharp focus.

Do not turn on the auto focus when shooting at night. With autofocus turned on, the camera will ignore any manual adjustments you've made.

It may take some time to make these settings, but the result is to take quality photos in low light. However, for photography lovers, spending this time and doing these settings will be very sweet.
Using the RAW feature

The preference of photographers is to use the JPEG format for various reasons, including taking up very little memory space and uploading the image without converting the format. However, this format uses a high compression algorithm for images. On the other hand, it creates a problem when filming scenes with a high dynamic range.

So when shooting at night, set the image format to RAW. This format takes up a lot of space on your memory card and the editing of your images must be done after that, but you will record your desired quality, professional images at night.

RAW is the best option to avoid image noise at night. Unlike JPEG, RAW files retain their quality after image processing. Also, after editing your image, you can convert it to any other format, including JPEG or PNG.
Bracketing adjustment

You can close your Bracketing. In the manual bracket, set the camera to "aperture priority" or "speed priority" mode. Now take a normal picture. Adjust the exposure using the Exposure Compensation button (the button with the +/- symbol) in the following images.

Bracket images can also be used to create HDR images. This technique reconstructs the range of exposure by combining several images (by means of an editing tool). With this, details that a normal camera is unable to capture are recreated.
How to set the shutter

For night photography of moving subjects like fire, switch to shutter priority. Here just set the shutter speed; The camera automatically selects the aperture.

In this mode, you can create impressive lights and dreamy landscapes for night photography. Also, don't forget to take test shots, which are essential to achieving the right goal.

To capture colorful photos at night, set the camera to a slow shutter speed (from 1/30 to 30 seconds).

Note: The slower the shutter speed, the longer the light paths. A wide aperture is not necessary for long exposures. By using the combination of a very slow shutter speed and a wide aperture, an image is over-expressed.

It may be surprising how much light the camera can collect even in low-light environments. When you are in shutter priority mode, pay attention to the selected aperture of your camera; You'll see that it can be as small as f/22 for short exposures of a few seconds.

The shutter priority setting is suitable for photographing the night sky. The typical positioning time for shooting the stars is between 10 seconds and 30 seconds.

Since the stars are moving in the sky, if you expose your photo enough, star trails will be visible.

Tip: You can also get the paths of the stars by using Bulb Mode.